Dear Santa…

December 17, 2012

While I am a total clothing whore the rest of the year, I tend to have other things on my mind at Christmastime. I actually had a really difficult time this year coming up with gift ideas – for myself, as well as for others. Below are the items I finally settled upon for myself.

1.Haushund Wool Slippers & Katze Wool Slippers, both from Anthropologie, $78.00 each. Slippers are an often recommended gift idea, but these are just so *cute!* I’m a cat owner and lover, but lately I’ve been very much wanting a dog. Unfortunately, these slippers may be the closest I can get to having one for a while

2. La Grande Vadrouille ($24.00 for the DVD) & Le Cercle Roug ($21.00 for the DVD). So. I love old movies. And I love old French movies. La Grande Vadrouille is a classic French comedy…specifically a World War 2 comedy (I know, it sounds like some kind of oxymoron, but it works), featuring 2 of the greatest French comedic actors of all time – Bourvil & Louis des Funes. I first saw this movie when I was about 7, and was visiting my grandparents, and have loved it ever since. Apparently, until Titanic was released, it was the highest grossing movie in France to date. Le Cercle Rouge also stars Bourvil, but it s a drama…well, a crime movie revolving around a jewel heist. I’ve only seen this once (again, at my grandparents’), but remember being absolutely entranced. Plus, this one is special enough to have gotten the Criterion treatment.

3. Building Stories by Chris Ware (approximately $31.00…where available). I saw this book on a list of best books of 2012, and in reading the description, this was the one that intrigued me the most. This isn’t a single book, so much as a collection of reading materials that intermingles the stories of tenants of a Chicago Brownstone.

4. Rouge Noir nailpolish by Chanel ($26.00) & HOURGLASS Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in blue red ($28.00). If there is one thing I love almost as much as clothes, it is makeup. These deep red shades are classic colors, but are especially in style this time of year. I own a shitton of nail polish (including many, many bottles of Chanel), and this is one color I’d love to get my hands on. I’m always on the hunt for a good red lip color. With my coloring, only blue based reds work for me (otherwise, my lips look positively orange). I like the hourglass formula, so I’m hoping that this one is a winner.

5. Anna Sui Hairbrush from Urban Outfitters, $38.00. I never realized how difficult it would be to find a good hairbrush. The one I currently use is a supercheap one that I inherited from my sister ages ago, and I am embarrassed to admit just how old that one is. I’ve been trying to find a good hairbrush for years, and I have yet to find one with similar bristles to that one. Hopefully this one is as functional as it is pretty!

6. Vince Camuto “Bollo” Over the Knee boots, $166.00 from Nordstrom. Thanks to a stint of working retail at our favorite store a few years ago, I own some positively beautiful leather boots (that were purchased at an amazing discount). Still, a few years have passed since I last bought a pair of boots, and I’m really liking the over the knee style that is popular this season (and also last season). I don’t own any black boots, but I think I prefer these in the brown. Either way, these look like they’d be very comfortable and versatile.

7. Une Petite Tassed de Caffe Espresso Cup & Saucer s/4. Okay, these are a frivolous want. I don’t own an espresso maker, but I have it on good authority that my mother is getting one for Christmas. My sister found a one of a kind set for her, but as I was browsing, I found this set. They look like something you’d find at the Mad Hatter’s table!

8. Antiqued Mirror Frame, $19.00 from Urban Outfitters. I am absolutely terrible when it comes to photographs. I’m camera shy when it comes to taking pictures, except when I’m on vacation…then I snap, snap, snap away – but it is hardly ever of anything frameworthy (landmarks, food, badly taken photos, etc.). And the few photos I do have…well, they are hidden in some photo box somewhere. I have framed artwork, but no photographs at home or at my office. That is something I am looking to change, and I think that this would be a lovely frame.

9. Adobe Photoshop CS6, ($Major Ugh). I used to be quite the Photoshop guru “back in the day.” I was even able to use my skills to earn some cash on the side in high school. However, since college, it was something I used less and less, and when I upgraded to a new macbook last year, my old software no longer worked. Which is why pretty graphics like the one above are so rare. I currently have a trial version that I will be sad to lose very soon. This might be something I will have to bite the bullet on and purchase for myself in a few months (though, to be honest, I prefer the older version of Photoshop!)

However, that list does not include the super awesome day manfriend and I have planned out to spend together. Apparently, we are both extremely difficult to shop for – for 2 polar opposite reasons. 1) I’m apparently “the girl who has everything,” and while I’d like to see what he can come up with on his own, I admit that I’d have trouble giving him ideas AND, I’m having a hard time of thinking of ideas for him! Simply because he never wants anything, and anything I can think of just doesn’t seem good enough! Well, that or they just seem absolutely ludicrous in reality. Sure, I’d love for him to dress like he just walked out of a J. Crew catalog, but that just doesn’t work in his life. Oh well, these are extremely minor…annoyances to have in the grand scheme of things! So far, we have planned to go ice skating, grab some hot chocolate, have a fabulous dinner at my favorite restaurant, and then go to the Nutcracker (if you can’t tell, this may mostly be his present to me). If we can get an early enough start, we may be able to squeeze in a visit to the Fine Art Museum, to see the exhibit featuring works from the Prado museum (*so* excited for this)! Otherwise, it will wait for another day.